The Greek division of one of the world’s most popular chocolate companies, Nestlé, recently announced that it will donate 6 Paediatric Intensive Care Units (ICU) to the only public Paediatric Cardiac Surgery Centre of GNPA “Aghia Sophia”.

With this donation, 3 new paediatric Intensive Care Units (ICUs) will be created and another 3 existing ones will be completely upgraded, leaving a permanent legacy for the hospital and the Health System in the medical care of children, according to the APE-MPE.

The President and CEO of Nestlé Hellas, Nikos Emmanouilidis, said: “This year has been difficult for everyone. We are faced with an unprecedented situation that reminds us every day that there is nothing more important than our health.

“Our company is a member of Greek society and we are here to help meet the challenges it faces. 

“It is especially important for us to be able to contribute to the effort made to strengthen the National Health System, especially when this effort is focused on children who are the hope for the future and the source of our optimism.”

“Aghia Sophia” is the largest children’s hospital in Greece and one of the largest children’s hospitals in Europe. There are currently 110 intensive care beds for children and newborns as well as specialised departments, including the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, the Haematology & Oncology Departments and the Paediatric Cardiology Department.

Greece’s coast guard towed a boat carrying 65 asylum-seekers to a port on the country’s western coast after it was found to be in distress in the Ionian Sea, authorities said Thursday.

The Migration and Asylum ministry said that 35 of those on board were from Turkey, 15 from Afghanistan, eight from Iraq and seven from Iran.

Fifty-seven had already applied for asylum in Greece, it said, adding that they would be transferred to refugee centers, while those who had no documentation would apply for asylum.

Two people believed to be the boat’s crew members were sent to court.

It was the second case this week of Greek authorities intercepting migrant boats off the western coast of Greece, where they were believed to be heading to neighboring Italy.

On Wednesday, the coast guard said it received a call about a yacht in distress off the coast of the island of Corfu. Coast guard vessels picked up 25 people, including nine children, from the boat.

The coast guard said the adults were arrested for violating immigration laws, while the children were placed in protective custody. Authorities were searching for three people believed to be part of a migrant smuggling ring.

Sourced By: Associated Press

People in Greece accused of animal torture will be dealt much harsher penalties and potentially longer prison sentences if convicted in court, according to an amendment voted on unanimously in the Greek parliament on Thursday. 

As part of the amendment to the Justice Ministry bill, any acts of extreme cruelty to animals will be punished by up to 10 years imprisonment. The offences include “poisoning, hanging, burning, crushing, mutilating” animals.

Under the current law, such offences carry a prison sentence of at least one year and fines ranging between 5,000 and 15,000 euros.

The Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Makis Voridis, announced a tightening of legal framework three weeks ago, after increasing cases of reported animal abuse.

According to a statement from the Ministry, “the specific initiative of the Minister follows his announcements for further tightening of the existing legal framework in order to make the prosecution and punishment of tortured animals more effective.”

READ MORE: Greek government cracks down on animal torture

The minister adds that, “incidents of violence against animals have no place in a favoured state and constitute a serious insult to both the state and Greek society, while pointing out that there is an urgent need to toughen penalties in order to eliminate this kind of unacceptable phenomena”.

Under the newly proposed amendment, temporarily seized pets and animals will be permanently taken away from their owners if they fail to commit to the financial costs of the animal’s restoration of health, its veterinary care and the proper living conditions.

Based on data from the Report Animal Abuse Greece website, 809 complaints were registered in 2014, while in 2018 the number jumped to 3,734.

Greece will enter a second nationwide lockdown for three weeks from the morning of Saturday, 7 November. The lockdown will end on November 30.

The announcement came from Greece’s Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, tonight after COVID-19 cases spiked in the country in recent days.

In a similar way to the first lockdown, movement will be limited to essentials, all retails stores will close and travel between regions will be banned.

Secondary schools will close and switch to distance learning. Kindergartens and primary schools will remain open.

Authorities will also reintroduce a system obliging citizens to send text messages to a government number to leave home to work, shop, visit a doctor or take exercise.

Mitsotakis said during the press conference that the lockdown is necessary, citing an “aggressive increase in infections,” a rise in intubations and ICU entries.

“Once again, I choose to take measures sooner rather than later,” Mitsotakis said. “If the government waited and the measures didn’t work, pressure on our hospitals would be unbearable.”

Mitsotakis added he is taking note of the advice from the expert committee advising the government, including Greek Australian immunologist, Sotiris Tsiodras.

The Prime Minister also said Greece’s Finance Minister, Christos Staikouras, will announce plans later tonight which will financially support citizens who will be affected by the new lockdown.

Residents of Samos, who were left homeless by last week’s destructive 6.7 magnitude earthquake, will be temporarily housed in containers, following a decision by Minister of Migration and Asylum, Notis Mitarakis.

In a statement, the ministry said on Tuesday that containers from the Zervos migrant reception facility on Samos were being transferred to house the residents whose homes were deemed unsafe.

The ministry said it had so far provided 20 tents, 500 sleeping bags, 1,000 blankets and 265 beds to affected residents. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sent 100 tents to the island.

A total of 300 buildings on the island have so far been found to be temporarily unsafe to live in during a series of inspections by civil engineers after Friday’s quake.

Samos rises 18-25 centimeters above waterline after earthquake:

A team of Greek scientists from the School of Geology and Geoenvironment at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens went to Samos after the earthquake in order to survey the impact it had on both the island’s topography and the state of its buildings.

According to their findings, the altitude at both the northern and southern parts of the island had permanently elevated 18 to 25 cm from its pre-earthquake elevation, due the tectonic plate activity which caused the earthquake.

The elevation change can clearly be seen in rocks along the shoreline, showing several inches of algae which had been beneath the surface of the water, now above sea level.